Munkee

D-Day 9th May 2013
I had my leg amputated! They took the shoulder blade as well. The said the nerves making up the plexus as the top where they cut looked normal. They also took a lymph node to be analysed. I recovered very well and the vet remarked how well i was walkng already on the night after the op!

10th May 2031
They sent me home to mum in time for her birthday! Mum said it was the best birthday present ever to have me home! I was sent home on Metacam, Tramadol, Gabapentin and Clavaseptin. Mum joked i would rattle with that many tablets!

The first night home!

The huge wound! Looks so sore!

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24th May 2013

Mum got a call from the specialist saying that the head consultant wanted to check on me on saturday morning to see how I was doing. Hhe had heard about my wound on the inside of my back leg.

Mum was a little worried about taking me back as she was sure that the wound was caused whilst I was there. Mum had been spending all week cleaning the wound when it leaked it pus and stopping me from licking, which in its self was a full time job! The moment I thought she was asleep i would start to lick! Mum always woke up and stopped me. The wound by now had more than doubled in size and was looking worse!

Mum took me to the specialist on saturday morning but made sure I had had breakfast so they couldn’t rush her in to making a decision there and then and whisking me off for another op!

The consultant looked at the wound and told mum that it appeared they had burned me with the Diathermy. I could see how much it took mum to keep calm when they told her!

The consultant decided to staple the wound close to help it heal quicker but would leave a bit of a gap to help it drain. Having it stapled meant i didnt have to be knocked out again.

They took me off mum and a few moments later i was stapled!!

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14th May 2013

As mum hadn’t had a chance to open her birthday presents yet she decided to open them while i was laying on the matress. She stood up unwrapping the first so i sat up to look what it was. As i sat up mum noticed a small patch of skin that looked black near to my back leg.

Mum stright away had a closer look. The skin had gone necrotic. It was about 1.5cm across. Mum panicked straight away and rung the vets for them to have a look. The vets fitted me in as an emergency.Mum now had the job of getting me in to the car on her own as i still wasnt eating and i was still crying with pain. Mum rang lots of friends and family but every one as work! She managed to find a friend who could help. He came straight over and sat with me whille mum got the car out of the garage. She then got me to hop out to the car and she picked me up and put me in the car with out me making a sound! Mum joked to her friend that i proved her to be a liar!

I knew mum was struggling not to cry and was trying to put a brave face on it for me!

When we got to the vets, he took my temperature (the whole time I kept wagging my tail!) I had a high temperature and the vet told mum i had an infection and he didnt know how i had got it. They had to admit me and out me on drip straight away! I was very poorly! Mum took me to my kennel and i saw her crying as she walked away.

The vet took a sample of the wound near my back leg and sent it off to see what kind of infection it was. The results came back. It was an infection resistant to antibotics. That night while i was at the vets mum cleaned every thing in the house to keep her self busy and make sure there was no risk of cross infection! My wound where my front leg should have been was ok.

Thursay 15th May 2013 mum rang the vets, she was desperate to see me and missed me. The vets told her she could come to see me straight away!

Mum and nanny came straight down to see me! They brought me a yummy Pedigree Jumbone for me to eat! I devoured it straight away! Mum was so pleased to see me eating again! I still wasnt allowed home yet!

Friday 16th May 2013. Mum rang the vets to see how I was and they told her i could go home later that day!

Mummy and nanny came and picked me up friday evening. I was as happy as mum was! They still didnt know what caused my wound but they told mum to not let me lick it and to keep it clean.

necrotic wound

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Friday 11th May 2013

Mum says this was one of the longest nights of her life! I came out of the vets pulling her on the lead (I wanted to get home, fast!). I think this must have set mum up for a fall. As she couldnt beleive how well I was coping.

I have always slept on mums bed and now mum had been told i wasnt allowed to Jump up on the bed! So mum took the mattress off the bed and put it on the floor in the front room so i could still sleep on the bed with her!

Later on that night though, I couldnt settle, I was hot I kept panting, I cried. Mum didnt know what to do and neither did I! I kept her awake all night! She hugged me all night hoping it would make me feel better.

In the end mum rang the specialist early saturday morning and she knew I wasn’t right! The vet said to double up my dose of tablets and use cold compresses on my wound. The vet thought i might be panting because of the pain.
Mum doubled up my dose and it made me in to a little space cadet!

Tripping!

All weekend I cried with pain, I wouldn’t eat, i couldn’t settle. Mum rang the vets again sunday as she was still sure something was wrong! The next few days the vets rang her everyday to check on me and offer advice on how to look after me but it made no difference something was wrong!

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7th May 2013 – We went to the specialist and they decided the best course of action for me was to have an MRI scan to see what was happening with my leg. They looked at the area from my right elbow to the neck, including the middle part of my spinal cord.
The MRI scan revealed a a mass growing in the nerve plexus in the armpitt. It hadnt yet reached the spinal cord.

Prone postion. The tumour is on the left of the picture the strange grey mass above the elbow joint.

The tumour is the grey shaded area in the middle of the picture between the spine and the elbow.

The specialist rang mum that night whilst i was still at the hospital. They said mum could either do nothing and i would live for another two months but would be in a lot of pain or they could amputate my leg and i might live six months pain free. Mum was heart broken and couldnt stop crying but said there was no choice! So “off with his leg” it was!

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2013

Over the last few months I had started to limp more and more and mum was having to keep me on Metacam to make sure I wasn’t in pain. I could still swim and play with other dogs but when i got tired my limp was more pronounced.

The limping carried on getting worse and the vet has now put me on Tramadol as mum was so worried that I might be in pain. We also tried Prvicox but that didnt work and mum was getting more and more worried.

18th April 2013 – Mum took me to the vets to see what they could do about my limping as i had started to knuckle my foot. I had also started non weight bearing on it. The vet thought it might be elbow dysplasia.
The plan was set, i was to be knocked out and have X-rays taken to see what was happening with my leg.

23rd April 2013- Mum dropped me off at the vets for my Xrays. I knew she would worry all day, so I went of with the nurses trying to look as happy as possible to let her know I was ok.
When mum collected me the vet showed her the X-rays and said he couldnt find any Elbow Dysplasia. The vet said he would send me back to the specialist to see what they thought.

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It all started on the 2nd January 2011. It was heavy snow and I had been pulling mums friend’s children round in the snow!
The next day mum was rubbing down all my legs and giving me cuddles. She found a lump on my right shoulder. The lump seemed to be in the muscle. Mum thought I might have pulled a muscle from playing with the kids!
She took me to the vets. It all spiralled from there!

On the 11th January 2011 the vet took a biopsy and sent it off to see what it was.

14th January 2011 the results came back. Nerve sheath tumour. Mum just crumpled! She was so worried about me. The vet said he would have to send me off to a specialist to try and remove it.

I went to the specialist on the 24th January 2011. They explained it all to mum while i just sniffed about and demanding attention from every one!
I seem to remember them saying to mum that they could amputate my leg and that would remove it or they could try and remove the tumour but it may come back.
Mum spent the whole day worrying and crying and ringing everyone she could think of who knew about dogs to get advice.
She decided that to try and remove the tumour first was the best course of action.

25th January 2011 D-Day! I had my op! They managed to remove the mass and save my nerve! However they had to remove all the muscle off my shoulder and they couldn’t get clear margins so suggested I had Radio therapy just in case.

After the op I was fine no problems with walking! I think it was because the vets kept giving me cheese! I will do anything for that!

26th January 2011
Mum took me home! She was so frightened I would hurt myself or open my wound up!

16th February 2011
My first day of Radiotherapy! I had four weeks to go! It wasn’t so bad but I started to cause myself a lick granuoloma on the my good leg! It itched where they shaved me!

16th March 2011
I completed my four weeks of Radiotherapy! I had no side effects from the Radiotherapy! They had discharged me! I had to go back to my own vets in two weeks and then back to the specialist in eight weeks! Life of fun begins again!

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Munkee

Hi all my name is Munkee!. I will be 8 next week! I have only recent become a tripawd. I seem to be coping much better than my mum!

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